The Grassley-Graham referral of Christopher Steele is more substantive than the Nunes memo. And it does raise important points, notably about the possibility it included disinformation. But there are still problems with the argument.

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Warner.jpg480342emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2018-02-10 15:38:572018-02-10 15:38:57In Which Mark Warner Refuses to Repeat His Comment That He Hadn't Seen Evidence of "Collusion"

The most interesting part of the dueling NYT and Intercept stories about a Russian peddling disinformation while promising Shadow Brokers files is the timing. Does the government still not know how and what Shadow Brokers got?

The hearing transcript on the release of the Democratic memo had one nugget of news: The FBI hadn't even subpoeaned George Papadopoulos' social media call records until after he was interviewed two times.

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-27-at-12.48.16-PM.png539915emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2018-02-09 16:16:592018-02-09 16:17:12George Papadopoulos' Social Media Call Records Were Not Subpoenaed Until After His Interviews

The Mark Warner texts that Fox just reported on, a week after Julian Assange promised news on Mark Warner to Sean Hannity, date to around the period of a massive T-Mobile hack in the DC area last year.

Erstwhile Trump campaign adviser Carter Page comes off looking sketchier than ever after TIME reported last evening that Page characterized himself as an informal adviser to the Kremlin back in 2013. Let's take a step or two back and take a look at the bigger picture surrounding Page.

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Question_EmilyMorter-Unsplash.jpg10001500Raynehttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngRayne2018-02-07 00:00:122018-02-07 10:14:34Ruin a Movie with a Name: Get Carter (Page)

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mueller.png346463emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2018-02-06 22:07:332018-02-07 07:29:42Recently Released Mueller Emails Show How Conservative He Was, Not How Aggressive

Something has been bugging me about this NYT story from last week reporting that, in a conference call with Mark Corallo on July 9, 2017 (see the timeline of events below), Hope Hicks told him emails on the June 9, 2016 Trump Tower meeting…

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/donald-trump-hunting-africa.jpg331571emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2018-02-06 10:25:142018-02-06 10:25:14Are There Other Emails about the June 9 Meeting?

Michael Mukasey, who no doubt filed scores of declarations in criminal cases saying that letting a defense attorney view a FISA application to see if DOJ misled the FISA Court would harm national security, just endorsed releasing a FISA application publicly to do just that.

https://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Screen-Shot-2017-02-27-at-12.48.16-PM.png539915emptywheelhttps://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Logo-Web.pngemptywheel2018-02-05 10:49:462018-02-05 11:47:44Nunes Is So Dumb He Missed the Most Likely Way the Trump Campaign Might Have Been Wiretapped

On Super Bowl Eve, two stories seem prime: The first is about former 3X Super Bowl player and NFL star Jackie Wallace, a story of the difficulty of recovery and redemption, and Will Bunch's story of the heartwarming good of the Eagles.

DOJ presumably believes the release of the Nunes Memo hurt national security in three ways: it helped those Mueller is trying to investigate, provided another reason for our foreign partners to hesitate before sharing intelligence with us, and makes it more likely some defendants will get to review their FISA application going forward. The latter is actually the sole benefit of this release, though it's probably the biggest worry DOJ has about it.